Update on Ahman Green, per NFL.com

(July 31, 2006) -- Despite stumbling out of the gate to a 1-4 record in 2005, the collective heartbeat of the Green Bay Packers still pulsated with playoff possibilities. A Week 7 win against the Minnesota Vikings would place them one game behind the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears, and they led 17-13 with 8:31 remaining.

Then Packers running back Ahman Green took a pitch behind the right side of the line. Chasing him down from the left, linebacker E.J. Henderson cradled Green's upper body to the turf. But Green's right leg, already weakened by several years of recurring knee tendinitis, planted awkwardly upon absorbing the tackle. The Packers would lose the game 23-20 and Green to a ruptured right quadriceps tendon. The four-time Pro Bowler did not feel any pain but knew his season was over as soon as he felt a pop in his leg.

"It just gave out," Green said.

The same could be said for the Packers' running game in 2005. One year after finishing 10th in the NFL in rushing yardage, they plunged to 30th. And the Packers tumbled from a division-winning 10-6 record in 2004 to a cellar-dwelling 4-12.

Rehab has gone well, but it's unknown if Ahman Green will be ready to start the season.
The Wisconsin faithful hope 2006 represents a comeback year for the Packers and the NFL running back with the most rushing yards from 2000 to 2004. Since doctors reconnected his torn tendon to his kneecap on Oct. 26, Green has undergone his rehabilitation, a process which typically takes nine to 11 months. Although he deemed his progress as "above average," Green's recovery fits that timetable. He expects to practice during one of the final two weeks of training camp and to receive his first game action during the Packers' final preseason game on Sept. 1 -- nine days before the Packers play the Bears in their regular-season opener.

"We're being real smart with him," offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski said. "It'd be just stupid for us to push him now when he's not ready to play."

Although the true test comes when his surgically repaired leg absorbs full contact, Green said it already feels better than when he played through knee tendinitis last season. He has been running since late April, and his workout routine has progressed from isometric leg lifts and pool exercises to speed drills, jump roping exercises, squats, dead-lifts and power cleans.

Green, however, will spend much of August watching. Younger running backs Samkon Gado and Noah Herron will receive most of the repetitions. Both earned playing time as rookies in place of Green last year; Gado rushed for 582 yards in eight games while Herron amassed 121 in five. The Packers coaching staff foresees stiff competition from those running backs and Najeh Davenport, who also is coming back from a season-ending leg injury. But they would like to see Green emerge as the bell cow in 2006.

Despite his track record, the 29-year-old Green could have bristled at the chance that younger running backs Davenport (27), Gado (23) and Herron (24) could take some of his carries. But he has embraced it. As the Packers athletic training staff carted him off the field on Oct. 23, Green thought of the team rather than taking a "woe is me approach." Instead of placing a towel over his head, he exhorted his teammates, yelling at them to keep playing hard.

Green continued to exert that leadership during the offseason. After each play during June's organized team activities, he would analyze Gado and Herron's reads, advising them on everything from pass-blocking technique to eluding defenders. During March, Green guided them through post-workout Pilates sessions to increase flexibility and introduced them to Dennis King's special chiropractic treatment. King, a certified chiropractor, practices active release technique on the running backs. The technique mobilizes their joints and breaks up scar tissue and abrasions through range of motion exercises.

Ahman Green has been an active observer at Packers practices.
"That's really helped us," Herron said. "(Ahman)'s really just given us little things that helped and prolonged him."

Green may need any edge he can find. Even before he tore his quadriceps tendon, his 2005 season disappointed. His rushing average dipped to 3.3 yards -- a yard below any of his previous seasons. He managed 255 yards on 77 carries, never scoring a touchdown or rushing for more than 54 yards in a game. The back, who had 28 100-rushing yard games between 2000 and 2004, has not rushed for 100 yards since Nov. 14, 2004.

Jagodzinski could serve as a possible elixir. Hired on Jan. 15, Jagodzinski, the 2005 Atlanta Falcons offensive line coach, has installed the Denver Broncos' vaunted zone blocking scheme, which he learned from noted Falcons consultant Alex Gibbs. Before coaching the Falcons, Gibbs directed some of the best offensive lines in NFL history, including the 1997 and â€˜98 Super Bowl champion Broncos. Using that zone scheme, the Falcons led the league in rushing in 2005 despite starting three former seventh-round draft picks, a fifth-round draft pick and an undrafted free agent. The Packers likely will start three different interior linemen this year. But Jagodzinski said he was "very confident" that he could resuscitate the Green Bay ground attack.

In the new blocking scheme, Packers offensive linemen block the first person who enters their area rather than a specific man. The system does not feature pulling linemen or a multitude of different plays but relies on quick, agile players who can execute double-team blocks. For Green, it represents a return to the blocking scheme he ran behind as a second-team All-American at the University of Nebraska and as the state Player of the Year at Central High School in Omaha, Neb. The one-cut-and-go philosophy should maximize the 218-pounder's speed, power and awareness.

"I'm very excited about it," Green said. "It fits my style because it's basically downhill. It's north and south. You don't have to a lot of juking and jiving. ... You hit it right away."

The start of the regular season is still far away, but Green has made a list of goals for 2006 as he does each year. He declined to reveal his specific objectives but noted his desire to become the leading rusher in the storied franchise's history. Jim Taylor ranks first with 8,207 rushing yards -- 1,104 ahead of Green.

"It's a goal," Green said. "It's there for me. All I've got to do is keep working hard."

Besting 1,100 yards likely would mean that Green has returned to the upper echelon of NFL running backs and the Packers offense has regained its potency. But for now, Green Bay must wait to find out if the nine-year veteran's production will match his aspirations.

"We think he's going to be fine, but we're going to have to see when he starts going full speed," Jagodzinski said. "And I'm looking forward to seeing that."

Ahman's a class guy, and I think that if he recovers from his injury and puts up three or four more seasons of big numbers (probably a longshot at this point, I admit), he is a potential Hall of Famer.

It's discouraging to hear that he won't see action till the last preseason game. He will really be behind the learning curve with this new offense, and not in the best game shape either. Running backs who are not in good game shape often get re-injured. (Think Dorsey Levens, when he held out that one year and then Holmgren ran him into the ground in his first game back, leading to an injury that messed up his whole season.)